


not your typical meet-cute

by ragingcalm



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23609362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragingcalm/pseuds/ragingcalm
Summary: “You.” He narrowed his eyes at Donghyuck. “You’remy soulmate!”“What?” Donghyuck just looked up at him with wide eyes.Jaemin didn’t care. “You are so annoying sometimes, you know that? I was just in a lecture, and you were listening to rock music the whole time! I literally learned nothing in that class! Nothing! And sometimes, I’ll be trying to fall asleep, and you’ll decide it’s the perfect time to listen to some heavy metal.Whydo you feel the urge to listen to heavy metal at one o’clock in the morning? Also, how does your music taste even range from heavy metal to classical? Donghyuck, you are driving meinsane.”(Or, a soulmate au in which you hear whatever music your soulmate is listening to, and Jaemin just wants some peace and quiet)
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 179





	not your typical meet-cute

Jaemin’s soulmate was weird. Ever since he was little, he’d had an almost constant soundtrack in his head. Jaemin remembered being a toddler and not understanding where the music was coming from. Nothing near him was making any noise, but his head was filled with the sweet sounds of piano and guitar. 

He didn’t say anything about the music for a while, afraid he was going crazy. When he finally asked his mom about the strange music, she just laughed. “That’s your soulmate, Jaemin. Whenever they listen to music, you can hear it, too.”

“What’s a soulmate?”

“Someone who the universe picks out just for you, sweetheart. Someone who will love you very much and make you feel like you’re on top of the world.”

Jaemin was immediately dazzled by the idea of a soulmate. “When do I get to meet my soulmate?”

“When it’s the right time.”

“How do I know when that is?”

“You’ve just got to trust the universe, darling.” Then his mom had pulled him into a warm hug, and Jaemin had fallen asleep dreaming of princes and princesses and true love. 

As Jaemin grew up, he always found his mind wandering to his soulmate. When would they meet? How would he know? What would his soulmate be like? Jaemin liked to imagine their first meeting whenever he was bored in class or couldn’t fall asleep at night.

Sometimes it was a cute girl with long hair and a sweet smile. Jaemin would meet her at a record store and strike up a conversation with her only to find out she was his soulmate. Sometimes it was a mysterious boy with dark hair and a beanie who sat at the back of the class. He was quiet and closed off at first, but he was hilarious and kind once you got to know him. 

As much as Jaemin liked to dream about his soulmate, he thought he would be happy with whoever it was. It was wonderful, knowing there was a person out there who was perfect for him. Someone who was guaranteed to love him and make him happy. Jaemin couldn’t wait to meet his soulmate.

Today, Jaemin’s soulmate was listening to rock. Which would normally be fine, since that probably meant his soulmate was having fun. Over the years, Jaemin had tried to interpret his soulmate’s different music choices and figure out what they meant. Of course, he had no way of knowing if any of his theories were right, but it made him feel closer to his soulmate.

Anyway, the reason why Jaemin wasn’t very pleased to be listening to rock was because he was in the middle of class right now. How was he supposed to concentrate with rock music blasting in his head? Sometimes, his soulmate’s need to constantly listen to music was more annoying than endearing. Sometimes, he cursed the universe for deciding that sharing music was the perfect way to connect soulmates. There was nothing he could do about it, though, so he just had to grit his teeth and deal with it. 

“Hey,” someone whispered and tapped him on the shoulder. “You all right, Jaemin?”

“Yeah,” Jaemin sighed. “But do you think I could borrow your notes for this lecture later?”

Jeno nodded sympathetically. As Jaemin’s best friend, Jeno knew all about his soulmate struggles. Jeno was lucky, though. He had already met his soulmate, so they knew each other’s schedules and tried not to disturb each other. Jeno’s soulmate, Renjun, generally preferred chill music anyway, like acoustic or lo-fi. He didn’t want to listen to anything too distracting while he was painting, and Renjun was _always_ painting. Unless he was hanging out at Jaemin and Jeno’s apartment being obnoxiously cute with Jeno and making Jaemin feel very single. 

Jaemin put his hands over his ears in a pointless attempt to block out his soulmate’s music. He spent the rest of the lecture only catching every other word that came out of his professor’s mouth. Jaemin was immensely relieved when it was finally over. 

“Come on, Jeno,” he urged as he waited for Jeno to finish packing up his stuff. “I am in desperate need of some caffeine.”

“Okay, okay.” Jeno finally finished, and they started walking to the nearest cafe. “So, what was your soulmate doing this time?” Jeno asked, grinning.

“Ugh, they were listening to rock music, Jeno,” Jaemin complained. “Rock music!” Jaemin grabbed his best friend’s shoulders and shook him lightly. “How am I supposed to do anything when my soulmate feels like listening to Pink Floyd?”

Jeno just laughed. He might look innocent and sweet, but Jaemin swore Jeno took pleasure in witnessing his pain. 

They were almost to the cafe when Jaemin noticed another boy on the path walking towards them. He had headphones on, and he was jamming along to the music shamelessly. _Idiot_ , thought Jaemin, but he couldn’t help smiling. It was cute how much this boy was enjoying his music. 

As he got closer, he could see that the boy was pretty handsome, too. He was wearing jeans and an oversized sweatshirt that made him look tiny. His hair was light brown, and his face looked angelic. His smile was so bright that it could rival the sun. 

The only thought running through Jaemin’s head as he looked at this boy was, _wow_. 

Vaguely, Jaemin registered Jeno saying something to him, but his mind was too hazy to comprehend it. The boy got closer and closer, still completely absorbed in his music, until he crashed right into Jaemin.

At least getting knocked to the ground helped clear Jaemin’s head.

He got to his feet and extended a hand to the other boy, who was still on the ground looking dazed. “You should really watch where you’re going next time,” Jaemin couldn’t help saying as he pulled the boy up.

“Well, why didn’t you get out of the way?” The boy crossed his arms defensively, but his cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink. 

“Honestly, both of you need to pay more attention. I was literally yelling at both of you to watch where you were going or get out of the way, but did either of you listen to me? Nope, and look what happened. You guys totally deserved that.”

Jaemin and the other boy both turned towards Jeno in surprise. Oops. Jaemin had totally forgotten that Jeno was there. And that must have been what Jeno was saying before the crash… Jaemin had to agree that Jeno had a point. He’d never tell Jeno, though.

“Whatever.” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “At least I get to make a new friend because of this. What’s your name?” he asked the cute stranger.

“Um, it’s Donghyuck.” He blinked at Jaemin, still looking as if he wasn’t quite sure this was actually happening.

“Cool. I’m Jaemin, and this is Jeno.” He flashed Donghyuck his most charming smile, but Donghyuck just seemed even more confused.

Taking pity on the boy, Jaemin bent down to grab his headphones. He was about to hand them back to Donghyuck until he recognized the music coming out of them. It was the exact same song that had been playing in his head before Donghyuck had crashed into him. And then after they’d collided, his head had gone blissfully quiet… 

“You.” He narrowed his eyes at Donghyuck. “ _You’re_ my soulmate!”

“What?” Donghyuck just looked up at him with wide eyes.

Jaemin didn’t care. “You are so annoying sometimes, you know that? I was just in a lecture, and you were listening to rock music the whole time! I literally learned nothing in that class! Nothing! And sometimes, I’ll be trying to fall asleep, and you’ll decide it’s the perfect time to listen to some heavy metal. _Why_ do you feel the urge to listen to heavy metal at one o’clock in the morning? Also, how does your music taste even range from heavy metal to classical? Donghyuck, you are driving me _insane_.”

After Jaemin finished his rant, Donghyuck didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Oh, no. What did Jaemin do? He had just met his soulmate for the first time, and he had yelled at him. What if his soulmate hated him forever? This was definitely not how he wanted his first meeting with his soulmate to go down. 

Then, Donghyuck started laughing. At first, he was just giggling, but soon it became a hysterical kind of laughter. The kind where he was bending over gasping for breath, and Jaemin was just staring at him in shock. What was going on?

When Donghyuck was finally able to calm himself down, he looked right into Jaemin’s eyes and said seriously, “I have succeeded.” Then he flashed Jaemin a devilish grin and continued, “I really do enjoy a lot of different kinds of music. But all that stuff you were complaining about, like the rock music during your lecture? That was completely intentional.”

Jaemin sputtered in confusion. “You were… trying… to annoy me?”

“Yep.” Donghyuck giggled. “And I did a pretty great job of it, didn’t I?”

“You little…” Jaemin shook his head, unable to finish his sentence. Then, before he knew what he was doing, he was tackling Donghyuck to the ground (luckily, it was grass) and tickling him. Donghyuck shrieked and fought back. They rolled on the grass together, a mass of flailing limbs and hysterical laughter. Anyone walking by certainly would have thought they were crazy. 

Eventually, both of them tired out and they just lay there on their backs, looking up at the clear blue sky. “That was definitely an interesting first meeting,” Donghyuck said, breathing heavily. 

Jaemin snorted. “You better not make me laugh again,” he warned. “But I think we’re going to get along great, Donghyuck.” He rolled over on his side to face his soulmate, and Jaemin was sure their mischievous grins were identical. 

“I’m exhausted. Do you want to go get some coffee with me?” Donghyuck asked shyly. 

“I am _always_ down for coffee,” Jaemin said as he struggled to get up. Only once he and Donghyuck were walking towards the nearest cafe together did he remember that he had already been on his way there. 

“Hey,” Jaemin frowned, looking around. “What happened to Jeno?”

“Oh, you mean your friend with the dark hair? I don’t know; he probably ditched us ages ago.”

“You’re right.” Jaemin laughed and grabbed Donghyuck’s hand. “But that’s alright, ‘cause now I get to go on a date with you.”

Donghyuck’s ears turned pink. He turned his face away, but Jaemin knew he was smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Not exactly what I meant to do when I started writing this fic, but it was fun anyway :)
> 
> Nahyuck are lowkey idiots but they are cute idiots (rip Jeno)


End file.
